Police chief finalist Spivey says he’s ready for complicated job

Jeff Spivey grew up in Bangs, Texas, population 1,600. His home sat on 10 acres, a third of it a garden. He ate homegrown green beans and pickles canned by his mother. As a kid with Future Farmers of America, he raised show pigs.

“We lived a pretty simple existence,” Spivey said.

Now the Texan who has spent his career with the Irving Police Department wants to head the biggest law enforcement agency in Kansas.

Spivey, an assistant police chief in Irving, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, is one of two finalists to be the leader of the Wichita Police Department. It comes at a time when policing across the nation is being scrutinized because of officer shootings, when being the top cop in the nation’s 49th largest city might be one of the most complicated jobs.

And it wouldn’t be easy for him to leave Texas after living a life and making a career there – he’s a Cowboys fan in a city that has a long history with “America’s Team.” But the 48-year-old said he is committed to becoming a police chief and that his wife of nearly 30 years is committed to it too. They have a son and a daughter, both in their 20s.

In 2012, Spivey was a finalist for police chief in Cedar Park, Texas, a large suburb of Austin, and he is a candidate for another job besides Wichita now. He says he can’t discuss the other job opportunity “out of respect for their process.”

To be a police chief, Spivey said, “There has to be just a little bit of ego involved” to have confidence that you can do the job. “I think I could make a difference with an organization.”

He believes he can build trust between police and the community in Wichita. This is a time when relations between some segments of Wichita’s population and police have been strained over shootings by officers, body cameras and allegations of racial profiling. Spivey noted that he led his department’s efforts to evaluate and acquire body cameras.

Police have historically focused on easily measurable outcomes like the number of arrests and tickets. Yet, things that matter most to the community, like problem houses or speeding cars, are tougher to quantify, Spivey said.

Police have to understand what the community wants, he said.

“If you haven’t gone in and solved the problem, then it’s just going to return when you leave,” he said.

One thing in both finalists’ favor is that City Manager Robert Layton has said he is looking for an outsider with “fresh eyes” after hearing a strong preference for that from police staff and the community.

Spivey has worked for people who came into his department from the outside and has seen it work well.

Undercover to management

As a small-town Texas kid, Spivey lived in a world where football ruled. Bangs was deserted when the Dragons played away. With a team of fewer than 20 competing in 11-man football, he had to play on offense and defense, center and middle linebacker. “It wasn’t because I was that good,” he said. “It was because the depth chart was that shallow.”

As a cop, he has worked in a variety of roles: patrol; undercover narcotics; Drug Enforcement Administration task force at DFW Airport; homicides, including five people murdered at a car wash and a fellow officer killed by prison escapees.

As for the undercover job, he said, “It’s certainly not like anything you see on TV.” It’s not glamorous, “and it’s not a lifestyle you live. You’re still taking care of a family,” sliding into and out of the undercover world. “Looking back at that time, it taught me truly how to talk to people, to communicate with people, because you had to truly listen when you were talking to an informant so you didn’t miss out on any subtle clues.”

When he was a homicide investigator, he decided he wanted to take the leadership route, where he would have to work through the ranks and take on management roles.

His motivation, he says: to make a difference.

‘Most well-rounded’

Irving police Lt. John Mitchell, who oversees the department’s recruiting, hiring and training, has worked around Spivey for 26 years. “He probably is the most well-rounded executive in our police department,” Mitchell said.

In a line of work that “has a way of eating its own,” Mitchell said, “I would say he’s one of the most well-respected people in the Police Department.”

Police administrators have to think long-term, while street cops have to focus on one call at a time, Mitchell said.

“It’s very difficult to make both sides happy, and I think Jeff has managed to do that quite well.

“He is one of the most stoic people you’ll ever meet. He is not one that is ruled by emotion.

“He has the ability to accept constructive criticism and not be offended about it.” He is a boss who will tell an officer: “I was wrong, and here’s how I was wrong.”

Still, Mitchell said, “Jeff Spivey will not tolerate incompetence.”

But he remains approachable.

‘Trying new things’

Spivey’s view on change: Any time, there is a new leader, he said, there is “an amount of change that has to take place. It’s just natural.”

“The thing I would want people to understand is there is a pace of change that is tolerable, and there is a pace of change that is intolerable.

“I’m all for trying new things, pushing the limits on processes,” he said, and then maybe go back to the way it has been done if that proves to be the best path.

By exploring something different, he said, “at least we don’t have to wonder” what about what might have been.

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Police chief finalist Spivey says he’s ready for complicated job."